Nissan sells a large selection of cars, trucks, SUVs, minivans and crossovers. Their current selection includes the Cube, Versa, Sentra, Sentra SE-R, Altima, Altima Hybrid, Altima Coupe, Maxima, Z, GT-R, Quest, Rogue, Murano, Xterra, Pathfinder, Armada, Frontier and Titan. There are also two new vehicles in Nissans future the Nismo 370Z and the 370Z Roaster.

When Nissan first started being marketed in the US it went by the name of Datsun. The Datsun Pickup became very popular competing with the Toyota pickup in the Mini-truck market. These small low powered pickups were often highly modified by their owners with lift kits, roll bars, off-road lighting.

While the Nissan name was used for cars manufactured in Japan, it wasn’t until fall of 1981 that the Datsun name was changed in the US to Nissan costing Nissan an estimated $500 million US Dollars in advertising to accomplish.

From 1993 to 2002 Nissan formed a partnership with Ford producing two minivans that were almost identical to each other, the Mercury Villager and the Nissan Quest. Good to know if you are looking for parts, these two vans were produced with the exact same parts with only some cosmetic differences. Quest models manufactured in 2004 no longer followed the same design and were no longer related to Ford.

In 1966 Nissan started to produce more upscale models of cars starting with the Nissan Skyline and the Gloria, but it wasn’t until 1990 that Nissan introduced their luxury brand of cars in the US market. This new brand the Infinity is currently based off the Nissan FM Platform or the (front midships) platform. This platform was named after the engines center of mass being located behind the front axle centerline giving a more balance weight distribution.

With the oil crisis in 1973 Nissans emphasis toward higher quality economical cars started to pay off. Although future years included far less economical vehicles like the full sized Nissan Titan pickup with it’s 317 hp V8 engine.

One of Nissans more innovative designs in the Nissan Cube, a four door SUV with a distinctly young appearance to it. The Cube design clearly caters to the more hip younger generation of entry-level car buyers with features and styling sure to make an impression.